The Greek Council for Refugees publishes the annual updated AIDA (Asylum Information Database) report 2021 on the refugee situation in Greece , in the framework of its collaboration with ECRE (European Council on Refugees and Exiles). The report tracks recent developments in the area of asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum seekers and content of international protection in Greece, as of 31 December 2021, such as:

• The Asylum Service received 28,320 asylum applications in 2021 (marking a 30.71% decrease compared to 2020), mainly from applicants from Afghanistan!
• The recognition rate on the merits at first instance was 60% as was the case in 2020.. However, a significant number of applicants have not been provided with access to an in merits examination and their applications have been examined under the safe third country concept,following the issuance of the Joint Ministerial Decision designated Turkey as a safe third country for applicants from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, Bangladesh.
• Access to asylum on the mainland continued to be a serious matter of concern throughout 2021.
• Access to asylum on the mainland continued to be a serious matter of concern throughout 2021.
• An increasing number of allegations of pushbacks continued to be reported during 2021 and have been largely criticised inter alia by UNHCR, IOM, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, the Council of Europe Commissioner, the Greek Ombudsperson and civil society organisations. Several reports indicate that they have become a “standard practice”, including violent border practices, arbitrary detention and even deaths at borders.

The report was written by the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) and finally edited by ECRE.

• Τι είναι το Asylum Information Database (AIDA); is a database managed by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), containing detailed information on national asylum systems across 23 countries. This includes 19 European Union (EU) Member States and 4 non-EU countries (Switzerland, Serbia, Turkey, United Kingdom).
• The overall goal of the database is to contribute to the improvement of asylum policies and practices in Europe and the situation of asylum seekers by providing all relevant actors with appropriate tools and information to support their advocacy and litigation efforts, both at the national and European level.
• Η Έκθεση αποτελεί μέρος της Βάσης Δεδομένων Πληροφοριών για το Άσυλο (AIDA), που , funded by the European Programme for Integration and Migration (EPIM), a collaborative initiative by the Network of European Foundations, and the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF).

Read thehe Overview of the main changes since the previous report updatehere.

The fullAIDA Country Report- Greece 2021Update is available (in pdf), here.